Robbie Williams fears taking a sore one off Scots actor James McAvoy on the football pitch

10:09, 6 Jun 2014

ByScotland Now

McAVOY, known as a tough defender, will face the Rest of the World team against the singer's England XI in the Soccer Aid game for Unicef at Old Trafford on Sunday.

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ITV

James McAvoy

ROBBIE Williams is worried about taking a sore one off James McAvoy on
the football pitch.

But he’s even more scared of Nicky Byrne from Westlife.

Scots movie idol James, known as an uncompromising defender, will line up for the Rest of the World team against Robbie’s England XI in the former Take That star’s Soccer Aid game for Unicef at Old Trafford on Sunday.

And he and Nicky are giving Rob nightmares as the game approaches.

“Nicky Byrne’s scrappy and obviously James McAvoy’s scrappy,” said Robbie. “The last game I played in, Nicky was on the wing and I was at left back.

“And you know that thing you do at the start of the game where you just go ‘I’m here’. I thought I’d do a bit of that – and he hit me! And I thought ‘Oh! He’s here!’

“So Nicky Byrne can put in a good tackle. I thought I’d just go over and scare him a bit – he terrified me.”

Robbie said England would hit back with their own hardman, Good Morning star Ben Shepherd. He said: “He’s a gentleman thug.”

Soccer Aid 2014, The Countdown, is on ITV on Friday, followed by Soccer Aid 2014 on Sunday.